Red Madness

Red Madness wins by dealing the last points of damage before the opponent can stabilize. Almost every card is an instant or a sorcery that costs one or two mana, and its creatures turn each of those spells into extra damage: Guttersnipe hits the opponent whenever you cast an instant or sorcery, and Kessig Flamebreather whenever you cast a noncreature spell.

In the early turns the deck spends its mana on burn such as Lightning Bolt and Lava Dart, and on spells that discard a card to draw two: Faithless Looting, Grab the Prize and Highway Robbery. The discards are not a cost but part of the plan. Fiery Temper discarded this way can be cast for its madness cost, and Sneaky Snacker discarded early comes back to the battlefield on any turn in which you draw your third card, which a single draw-two spell usually does.

In the middle game the deck chains those draw spells to keep its hand full while each one triggers its creatures. It closes with damage that needs no mana: Fireblast by sacrificing two Mountains, and Lava Dart cast again from the graveyard by sacrificing a Mountain. Being able to finish the game from the graveyard and with free spells is what lets it win through blockers.

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  Guttersnipe

  100.0% of decks · 3–4 copies

  The archetype’s signature creature. Each instant or sorcery you cast deals damage to each opponent, so every burn spell and every draw spell adds to the clock even when it has another job. It is often the creature the opponent has to answer first.

• 

  Fiery Temper

  100.0% of decks · 4 copies

  The deck’s madness card. Discarded to Faithless Looting, Grab the Prize or Highway Robbery, it can be cast for a single red mana, so the draw spell becomes card advantage and burn in the same turn. Cast normally, it is still burn at instant speed.

• 

  Sneaky Snacker

  100.0% of decks · 4 copies

  The only card of other colors in the main deck, and it is never meant to be cast. It goes to the graveyard as a discard and returns to the battlefield, tapped, whenever you draw your third card in a turn. That gives the deck a flying attacker that costs no mana and keeps coming back.

• 

  Grab the Prize

  100.0% of decks · 4 copies

  Discard a card to draw two. If the discarded card is not a land, it also deals damage to each opponent. It is the engine that finds burn, sets up madness and Sneaky Snacker, and triggers Guttersnipe at the same time.

• 

  Lava Dart

  100.0% of decks · 4 copies

  A small amount of damage that can be cast twice: once from the hand and once from the graveyard by sacrificing a Mountain. It removes one-toughness creatures and, cast twice in a turn, triggers Guttersnipe and Kessig Flamebreather twice.

• 

  Fireblast

  100.0% of decks · 3–4 copies

  The finisher. Sacrificing two Mountains instead of paying its cost lets it deal its damage at instant speed on the same turn as other spells, often from a life total the opponent thought was safe.

• Pyroblast and Red Elemental Blast: against blue decks, to counter their spells or destroy their blue permanents.
• Relic of Progenitus: against decks that use their graveyard. It is also a way to draw a card once its job is done.
• Smash to Smithereens: against artifact decks, where it destroys an artifact and deals damage at the same time.
• End the Festivities: against decks with many small creatures, where it hits every creature and the opponent.
• Searing Blaze: against creature decks, as removal that also damages the opponent.
• Cast into the Fire: against artifact decks and decks with small creatures, as it either exiles an artifact or damages two creatures.
• Cleansing Wildfire: against decks that depend on nonbasic lands, such as artifact lands or the lands that make extra mana.
• Campfire: as repeatable life gain, for matches decided by damage, such as other burn and aggro decks.

Strengths:

• A lot of reach: burn, Fireblast and Lava Dart’s flashback can finish the game without attacking.
• Draw-two spells keep the hand full while they trigger its creatures, so the deck rarely runs out of things to do.
• Most of its spells cost one or two mana, which lets it cast several spells in one turn.

Weaknesses:

• Life gain and cheap blockers buy time against a deck that needs to deal every point of damage.
• Graveyard removal stops Sneaky Snacker from coming back and Lava Dart and Faithless Looting from being cast again.
• Its creatures are small and tend to fall to cheap removal and to effects that damage every creature.
• Fireblast, Lava Dart and Highway Robbery can sacrifice Mountains, so long games can leave it short of mana.

The core of burn and draw spells is among the cheapest parts of the deck. Much of the cost of the reference list tends to be in its sideboard, with the blue hate and the graveyard removal, and in Kessig Flamebreather.